


Bobby Singer Might Have Killed a Jesus Freak

by FunnyWings



Series: Psych/Supernatural Crossover Series [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: CIA!Eileen, CIA!Mary, Case Fic, Christmas episode, Cop!Castiel, F/F, F/M, Funny, Gen, Humor, M/M, Psychic!dean, but not really, cop!Charlie, psych au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 03:37:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6595009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunnyWings/pseuds/FunnyWings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas in Santa Barbara and you know what that means: time to spend some time with the family. Of course, when Bobby Singer is accused of murdering Kubrick Russell, the holiday season loses some of its shine. After being told by Jody that he's not allowed to investigate the case because his judgment might be compromised, Castiel is willing to enlist the help of the SBPD's very own psychic, Dean Winchester. Will they be able to clear Bobby's name in time for Christmas? Will the strain of a long distance relationship prove to be too much for Sam and Eileen? And most important of all, will Jody ever get a break from rebellious cops and eccentric psychics? Read on to find out!</p><p>Sequel to Do Re Mi... Don't Kill Me. Third part in the Psych/Supernatural Crossover Series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bobby Singer Might Have Killed a Jesus Freak

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the episode Gus's Dad Might Have Killed an Old Guy. Thanks to Evangeline74 for the suggestion!
> 
> It's Christmas time, and of course that means family dinners and awkward conversations. Throw in a little bit of murder and you've got yourself a party.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

“How are you boys doing?” John asked, looking at Sam and Dean through his rearview mirror. He didn’t miss the fact that Dean had chosen to sit in the back of the car, or that he kept sullenly silent. Sam softly said he was doing fine, glancing at Dean as though expecting him to say something about it, but Dean just kept staring out the window. “Dean?”

“What?”

“Excited to see your mom?”

“I’d be more excited if you hadn’t made her move a thousand miles away.”

John grit his teeth and stared forward.

“If this is about Cassie-“

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“-she was hardly a good influence on you. It’s probably better this way.”

“Is that what you said when you and mom got divorced?”

“You know what, Dean? If I were you I would can the attitude. I can turn this car around and we can drive straight home if you’re not going to behave for Christmas. You understand me, boy?”

“Yes, sir,” Dean said, face losing color at the thought of not getting to see his mom on Christmas day for the first time in his life. He looked back out the window and winced when he heard Sam start up the argument fresh.

“You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Nobody asked you, Sam.”

“You’re the one who brought up Cassie, you know that Dean gets pissed off when-“

As Sam and his dad started trading insults and getting louder and louder, Dean slipped on his headphones and went back to staring out the window, filling his head with useless scenery.

****************

“Merry Christmas, Charlie!” Dean shouted as he walked into the police station. Charlie looked back at him impressed with the plastic bag he had slung over his shoulder and Sam’s embarrassed expression.

“What’s with the sack of toys?” she asked. Dean held up one finger and then dug around inside before pulling out some kind of toy and handing it to her with a smile on his face. She stared at it and then him before launching herself into a tight hug and snatching it from his hands.

“I used to have one just like this-“

“At your old job,” Dean finished for her. He might have broken into the psych evals done by Naomi Prellis. And he might have seen that during one of Charlie’s original sessions with her she mentioned that she felt homesick after moving and missed her old job, and friends, and specifically a Hermione bobblehead that she’d completely forgotten to grab when she left to go to Santa Barbara. “Hey Alfie!”

“Hi, Dean,” Alfie answered, looking up from where he was glancing over Officer Benson’s new case.

“I got something for you,” Dean said pulling out a book of lullabies and a teddy bear. “You know, for you and Hannah when the kid comes. From Sam too,” he added when his brother coughed lightly, since he had suggested the teddy bear.

Alfie grinned wide and shy and thanked Dean in a heartfelt way.

“Hannah thinks it’s going to be a boy, but I’m pretty sure it’s a girl,” he confided. He lowered his voice slightly and asked. “Do you have any kind of reading on that? Hannah won’t let me find out at the appointments.”

“Girl,” Dean answered without thinking, enjoying the smile that lit up Alfie’s face. Sam elbowed him but Dean figured it was Christmas. Alfie probably wouldn’t even remember after his kid was born what Dean had said, especially when he had to start taking care of a baby and working as a police officer. He’d be lucky if he remembered his own name most days.

“Are you bribing my officers Winchester?” Jody demanded, opening the door of her office and pretending to eye him suspiciously. “You don’t get more cases by sucking up to them you know.”

“Don’t worry Jody, I didn’t forget you,” Dean said. “Here you go.”

Dean handed her a mug that said ‘Number One Boss’ on it. Jody rolled her eyes and gave a half smile before taking it. She looked inside and discovered a piece of paper, which she promptly took out and unfolded. She raised an eyebrow at Dean and Sam and Sam spoke up to explain.

“Dean was sensing that you’ve been feeling a little stressed lately. My neighbor Krissy is great with kids, and pretty cheap as far as sitters go. So we gave you her number and references, along with a list of dates she’s available that line up with your days off.”

Jody stared for a second, as though waiting for Sam to say he was just kidding. She considered the gift, looking at it and then back at Sam and Dean before opening her mouth to respond.

“That’s actually pretty thoughtful of you two.”

“Yeah, well Dean loves Christmas,” Sam said, sounding as though he were a parent that had to deal with a five year old. “And he wanted to get everyone something to show how much he appreciated-“

“Stop making me sound so sappy, Sam,” Dean complained. “I do this for the admiration only.”

“Well, you’ve earned mine,” Jody admitted, looking over the paper again. “Merry Christmas, Dean.”

“Merry Christmas, Jody,” Dean responded as Jody walked back to her office with her new mug. “Now we just need to find Cassie.”

“Should I be hiding?” asked Novak who had only just escaped Charlie’s enthusiastic rant about how much she loved Hermione and why exactly she was the most heroic character in the Harry Potter series, which Castiel had not actually read, not that he would ever admit that to his partner. He really didn't have time for the nagging that would ensue if she were to find out that he hadn’t bothered to learn much about the fictional world that so enthralled her besides what he had picked up from listening to her on stake outs.

“Merry Christmas.”

Castiel looked at the box in Dean’s hands distrustfully.

“Christmas isn’t for another four days.”

“Well, I got a very strong vibe that today would be the perfect day to give out gifts.”

Castiel took the box out of Dean’s hands and then opened it. Inside was the most offensively green sweater Dean had been able to find with a horribly mangled picture of an elf stitched in.

“Green is my least favorite color,” Castiel said flatly.

“Really?” Dean asked, feigning surprise. “That’s weird. The Christmas spirits told me that green was definitely your favorite color. In fact they were very specific that the color green did not remind you of the time Jo made you drink a Green Machine smoothie with too much cinnamon and you puked all-”

“I suppose you can tell the Christmas spirits to go fuck themselves.”

Charlie, who had walked over from her desk to see what Dean had gotten Cas noticed that despite Cas hating the gift he hadn't made any attempt to throw it away. She still didn’t get it. At all. She had been trying to see what was between the two of them ever since she had overheard their conversation about ‘coffee’. Sure, there was a kind of intensity to their conversations, but Charlie had always figured that was pure dislike. It took her a second to realize that Sam had started talking to her.

“I’m sorry what did you gay— I mean say. What did you say?” Charlie said, rushing to fix her mistake. Sam laughed a little at her slip up before repeating what he had been saying.

“Dean got distracted passing out presents, but we were wondering if you wanted to join us for Christmas? We’re going to be eating at my dad’s, and my mom and Eileen are going to be there, so I figured it would be nice to have at least one other person so that she doesn’t get the third degree from my parents.”

“What, they don’t think Dean’s vetted her enough?” Charlie asked with a smirk. Dean had taken a liking to Eileen, and often texted her dumb things Sam did, much to his brother’s consternation. “If she’s willing to stay with you after dealing with your brother’s sense of humor, she’s probably a pretty cool girl. But I can’t. I’m going over with Cas and Jo to their parents’ place.”

“Too bad,” Sam said with a shrug. “I guess Eileen will just have to deal with lots of questions.”

“Do either of your parents sign?” Charlie asked, since she was aware that a running gag between Dean and Eileen at the moment was who could come up with the worst deaf jokes. She also had watched Sam practicing signing with Dean so they could get better at it, whenever they were bored on a case.

“My mom does, a bit. Eileen’s great at reading lips though, so she should be fine.”

“Must be hard doing the long distance thing.”

“It’s actually kind of nice,” Sam admitted. “I mean I’d rather she were here obviously, but when you’re far away from someone, you really take the time out to talk to them, you know?”

“Oh yeah,” Charlie said. “I once had this really intense internet relationship with a girl named Vivian. We never ran out of things to talk about. I was convinced she was my soulmate for a hot minute.”

“What happened?”

“We met in person and didn’t click the same way anymore. We tried to keep it going, but the chemistry just wasn’t there.”

Sam’s eyes were a little wide and Charlie realized what she had just said.

“Not that that’s going to happen with you and Eileen.”

“Right.”

“Sam, I didn’t mean-“

“Charles, did Sam get around to asking you about Christmas yet?” Dean asked. Cas looked up from his desk where he had walked off to and shouted out his answer.

“Too late, Winchester. Charlie’s at my parents’ for Christmas. You’d think you would have been able to foresee it.”

“I was probably blocked by all of the negative energy you put into the universe,” Dean called back. “Seriously Charlie, we’d be saving you from the Grinch himself.”

“I think I’ll take my chances,” Charlie said with a smile.

“You want to go out tonight then?” Dean asked. “Me and Sam might hit up Tommy’s and harass the LaFittes for a bit.”

“I actually have a date tonight. With Jenna,” Charlie said.

“Officer Nickerson? Didn’t think she was your type.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Charlie said, thinking about people she had been pretty sure weren’t Dean’s type. “Blue eyes are pretty dreamy, don’t you think?”

The question came out more pointed than intended. Dean didn’t say anything, but Charlie could practically see the lightbulb go on over his head when he figured out that she knew. He swallowed, glanced at Sam, and then seemed to decide that he was going to pretend he hadn’t noticed what Charlie had said. She hadn’t exactly meant to let him know that she was aware of him and Cas, but she had to admit that it felt like a bit of a weight off her chest.

*****************

“Charlie knows,” Dean said without preamble, catching Novak before he and Charlie were about to go on their routine rounds. Charlie had sped ahead because she liked to pick the radio station before Cas got in the car and picked for her.

“Knows?” Cas asked, looking confused for a second. “Knows what?”

“She knows,” Dean repeated, placing more emphasis on the second word. Cas got it.

“Shit,” he swore. “How did she-? It doesn’t matter,” he cut himself off, trying to shut off his mind which was running through the possibilities. “I should talk to her.”

Cas walked to his car where Charlie was already sat and singing along to the radio. He sat down in the driver’s seat and shut the music off.

“Hey!” she complained. “I was listening to-“

“Dean indicated that you were aware of certain facts in regards to our personal lives.”

Charlie paused. She’d expected to have this conversation eventually, but she’d figured it would take Dean longer than two seconds to tell Cas she knew about the two of them. She sucked in a breath before answering.

“You mean the fact that you’re dating?”

“We’re not dating.”

“Fine, screwing. Whatever, I don’t care.”

Castiel shifted uncomfortably in his seat and made no move to put the key into ignition.

“You seem upset with me.”

Charlie heaved a huge breath and tried to organize what she was thinking. Finally she had what she wanted to say together and looked over at Cas.

“I’m not going to say that it makes sense to me, because in all honesty it doesn’t. But you know what? I’m glad if you find someone that makes you happy, Cas. I just wish you’d trusted me enough to actually tell me. I don’t get why you’re keeping it a secret. Jo didn’t even-“

“You told Jo?” Castiel asked. “Why would you-?”

“I thought she already knew,” Charlie said, defending herself. Castiel suddenly had a fairly good idea of why his sister had been acting so thoroughly annoyed with him the past few days. And if Jo knew, that meant one or both of their parents had been told. Christmas was beginning to look less and less appealing. “I just didn’t know why you wouldn’t tell me.”

“Because it’s none of your business,” Castiel snapped, putting the key into the ignition and backing the car out of the parking space. Charlie looked as though she’d been slapped, and Cas could already feel the guilt begin to curl up in his stomach.

“This has something to do with Azazel, doesn’t it?” Charlie asked at last. Castiel flinched at the slight tremble he heard in her voice.

“No.”

“Cas.”

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Yeah, I know. You know, Jody is going to catch on that you’ve been putting off meeting with Naomi eventually.”

“I’m not putting it off. I’ve been busy.”

“Jesus Christ, Cas. What the hell is this? I like Dean as much as the next person but why do you trust him more than you trust me? What happened that day?”

Cas didn’t say anything. Charlie bit her lip and looked out the window.

“Maybe we should talk to Jody about getting new partners.”

Cas pulled over the car and stared forward. Charlie waited.

“I did a bad thing.”

Charlie didn’t say anything, didn’t even move as she waited for Cas to continue.

“A terrible thing,” Castiel sucked in a breath and turned to meet Charlie’s eyes. “Azazel wasn’t… he shouldn’t have died. We had caught him.”

“You mean you-,” Charlie started, cutting herself off. “Oh.”

“He kept telling Dean how he was going to keep him as a pet. That he would escape prison easily. Have Dean tortured and… so I shot him,” Castiel said eyes fastened now to his hands in his lap. “And I should have turned myself in, I know I should have, but everything was just so… messy.”

And Charlie could picture it. She could imagine how frightening it could be for the man next to her to lose control over himself, over his actions, over the way other people treated him. She could see why he might want to hold any and all information close to his chest, keep whatever modicum of control he had left to him. Castiel had a certain sense of order, and to see it violated that way must have hurt him deeply.

“You can’t tell anyone else,” she said immediately. “They would fire you.”

“Charlie, I just told you I shot a man. I deserve to be fired. I deserve to put away.”

“No, you told me that after being kidnapped by a psychopath, you listened to that same psychopath threaten someone you clearly seem to care about. Though I’m not sure how the last part happened in all honesty,” Charlie admitted. “You told me that he said he would keep on hurting you and Dean and while you were likely in a less than stable frame of mind, you reacted to a threat. We know that Azazel has personally killed at least twenty people, and that’s nothing compared to the amount of people it’s likely he ordered to have killed. You’re judging yourself now, when you’re sitting in a car and you feel safe, but when that happened all you knew was that Azazel was going to try to kill again. Context is important Cas.”

Cas didn’t say anything for the rest of their rounds, seemingly lost in thought. Before they got back to the station, Charlie decided to say one final thing to her partner.

“You know I have your back, right? No matter what.”

Castiel looked at Charlie carefully and seemed to believe her because he nodded slowly.

“I will for you as well.”

“As long as we understand each other,” Charlie said, getting out of the car. Cas followed a few seconds later, and the two made their way back into the police station.

***************

“Her flight just got in Sam. She’ll be here soon. Try to relax.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve checked your phone seventy two times in the last twenty minutes.”

“You’ve been counting?”

“I can’t exactly turn it off,” Dean huffed. It’s not like he wanted to remember everything in detail all of the time. But John had taught him when he was young that any detail could important at any time, so Dean’s mind was constantly at least running some sort of analysis on whatever was around him. It came in handy if he needed someone for something, and recently it really helped with convincing people he was psychic, but it was also kind of depressing that he could tell that the couple in the corner were both cheating on each other, or that the grandma that had flown in for Christmas was in the middle of chemo, or that Sam was much more nervous for his meeting with Eileen than he had any right to be considering how comfortable the two had gotten with each other over their weeks of constant phone calls and texting.

“What if mom and dad don’t like her?” Sam asked. “Or what if she realizes that this was all a mistake? I’m not like her Dean. I’m normal, and boring, and-“

“You and I run a psychic detective agency. That’s pretty much as far from normal as you can get. And trust me, Eileen does not think you’re boring. So get a grip, and smile, because your girlfriend is coming at two o clock.”

Sam turned and saw Eileen’s eyes scanning the crowd until she saw him. Despite his nerves, he couldn’t help brightening at how her face lit up and she walked purposefully towards him, her practical carryon rolling smoothly behind her. When she met them Sam and Dean both hugged her in turn and Sam took her suitcase and used his other hand to take hers. He made sure to turn towards her while he was walking so she could read his lips well as they talked.

“How was Washington?” he asked her. Eileen smiled and shrugged, mischief in her eyes.

“I’m not actually supposed to tell you about why I was there,” she said quietly. “But I did manage to save a politician who is a bit of a Dick.”

“Well,” Sam said, realizing she must be talking about the recent assassination attempt on Dick Roman. “We have to protect the dicks of the world too.”

“If it’s any consolation, I doubt he will stay in politics after this,” she said, casually. “Once someone has attempted to kill you, I think the whole business loses its glamor.”

“I don’t approve of the methods, but I do approve of the outcome.”

“Hey you two!” Dean yelled. “Quit flirting and pay attention. The cab’s been here for five minutes.”

“No it hasn’t.”

Dean rolled his eyes and gestured toward the cab. The three piled into the back and Dean started asking Eileen about her job, and then started talking about a weird private case they had done in which a cartoonist had been fired for writing about a sentient teddy bear that wants to kill itself. Oddly enough, it turned out that he was actually fired because his boss wanted to put stress on his relationship with his girlfriend so he could ask her out. Really, Dean had said, he should have just sent the girlfriend the comic about the sentient teddy bear and let that do the destabilizing.

“We’re here,” Sam said, looking out the window, and adjusting his hair nervously. Eileen signed to him asking if he was okay and Sam nodded, praying silently that his mom and dad wouldn’t be too hard on her. What if Eileen decided to leave? Or what if-

Eileen had followed Dean out of the other side of the cab and made her way to open the door for Sam while he’d been internally freaking out. She gave him a smile and reached for his hand, and Sam let that reassure him that everything would be fine.

*****************

“Mom, Dad,” Castiel called as he opened the door with Jo and Charlie charging in behind him. Bobby and Ellen made it to the door quickly.

“Joanna Beth, Castiel, do not put your coats on the chairs. Hang them up,” she said sternly in the next breath she turned to Charlie with a smile. “Have Cas hang up you coat too, darling. What will you be drinking?”

“Uh, beer,” Charlie said with a smile. “Beer is good. Thank you Ms. Harvelle.”

Ellen snorted.

“You can call me Ellen. We’re all adults here. Bobby, why don’t you greet our guest like a respectable host.”

“I was getting to it. If you’d shut your mouth for two seconds maybe I coulda said hello,” Bobby complained. “Hi kiddo. Cas and Jo have told us lots about you.”

“Good things I hope,” Charlie said.

“Well you wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t,” Bobby said matter of factly. “Not that I listen much when Cas starts going on about the station much anymore, ‘cause he’s always complaining.”

“I am not,” Castiel said, sounding annoyed. “And I could just stop calling, then you wouldn’t have to listen to me at all.”

“Like you would do that to your mom.”

Ellen had disappeared and come back with beers for everyone. She passed them out and then settled herself on the couch, where Bobby joined her. Jo, Cas, and Charlie sat in various chairs across the sitting room and for a little while they enjoyed their drinks in silence. Finally Ellen cleared her throat.

“How’s school going Jo?”

Castiel prepared himself for a long winded speech about how much law school sucked that he’d heard everyday for the last two years. Charlie grinned at him over her beer, seeing the long suffering look on his face.

*******************

“No way,” Dean said, laughing hard enough that the water he had been drinking almost came up his nose. “There’s no way that happened.”

“Oh, it did,” John said from the kitchen. “This was before your mom let me in on her job too, so she showed up covered in cuts, and I nearly had a heart attack wondering what had happened. What did you tell me, Mary?”

“Barnacles.”

Sam burst out laughing at that too, and Eileen hadn’t seen what Mary said, so Sam calmed himself down for a second before facing her and mouthing barnacles breathlessly. Then she started laughing as well.

John was surprised how well everything was going. They hadn’t had Christmas dinner like this in nine years. Sam had traded whose house he went to, and Dean almost always made the trip to see his mother every December, but he hadn’t seen his family back together in so long, that he couldn’t help the smile on his face. Dean and him hadn’t even had an argument yet. John had long since decided arguments with Sam didn’t count because they could fight over what shade of blue the ocean was or their differing views on gun control and still be somewhat reasonable with each other a few minutes later. Sam just didn’t hold grudges the way Dean did, at least most of the time.

John thought for a minute and then took the gift he’d gotten Dean from under the tree and handed it to him.

“Want to figure out what it is?”

“C’mon, Dad,” Dean said hesitantly. “We haven’t played that game in years.”

“Yeah, I’ve been giving you time to practice so you might actually win this time,” John said, half joking and half issuing a challenge. Dean narrowed his eyes.

“You’re on old man.”

Dean passed John the present he had gotten him and the two of them spent a few minutes looking each other’s over, shaking it and eyeing the two boxes to determine what might be inside. Mary watched the two of them with a smile.

“What are they doing?” asked Eileen.

“Oh, when we were younger, dad and Dean always had this game they would play where they tried to figure out what the other one got them for Christmas. Dad always won.”

“Quit telling Eileen lies Sam. I tied at least twice.”

“Dad always won,” Sam repeated himself. Dean put the present from his dad back under the tree, so he could slap the back of Sam’s head before walking out of arm’s reach. Sam stood up and retaliated, and it wasn’t long before they were chasing each other around trying to smack the other.

Sam signed to Eileen asking for help, so she rose to her feet and easily knocked Sam over so that Dean could keep him from getting up.

“Traitor,” Sam mouthed to her. Eileen winked. Once Sam had admitted that Dean had tied with their dad twice, he was let up off the ground. Mary rolled her eyes at her two sons.

“If you two are done acting like idiots, it’s time for dinner.”

*******************

Ellen and Bobby were both pretty good in the kitchen when they wanted to be, and Charlie was having fun listening to them argue back and forth over who had made the better dishes. It slid something into place for her that she hadn’t been getting before. Ellen and Bobby were clearly madly in love, but they hardly spoke to each other in anything except insults. Yet the air between them seemed to crackle with good will, and despite the fact someone might initially think that the two of them were constantly in a bad mood, if you watched them for any length of time, you would catch the smiles, the adoration for each other. If this was the model that Cas had for what a healthy relationship should look like, it made sense that he’d had such a conflict filled marriage with Meg, or that the constant arguments with Dean had caused other feelings to rise to the surface.

It was past dinner and just as they were starting dessert that Dean was mentioned. Ellen had given Bobby a look, who had sighed and gestured toward Jo. Cas seemed to sense what was coming and tensed up, unconsciously sliding closer to Charlie for whatever protection she could provide him over the subject.

“Alright,” Jo said. “Cas, you know we all know about you and Dean. You got anything to say about it?”

“You’re in law school, I’m sure you comprehend my meaning when I say I plead the fifth.”

“Jo’s just worried about you,” Ellen started. “We all are. After what happened with Meg, and then you were seeing Anna and she just left. Not to mention that son of a bitch that kidnapped you because he was after this psychic that you’re interested in.”

“Thank you for mentioning all of that,” Castiel said putting his fork down petulantly. “I can really feel the Christmas cheer in the room.”

“Cas, don’t talk to your mom like that,” Bobby said, weighing in with his opinion. “She just doesn’t want you getting hurt again so soon.”

Castiel looked at each of his family members in turn, trying to place some weight on the words he was about to say.

“I’m not a child. I can make my own decisions without your approval.”

“Like you made your own decisions about Meg?” Jo said bitterly. “Even though I told you what she was really like. I told you that you were too good for her, but you never-“

“I’m going to go for a walk,” Castiel said without preamble. He was out of his chair and out the door before anyone could say another word. Charlie got up to follow him but Jo just shook her head and sighed.

“He’ll be back,” she said. Jo stared down at her empty plate. “I just wish he’d end up with someone who actually cares about him, you know?”

Charlie was fairly sure that Meg had cared about Cas and she was pretty sure Dean did as well, but she decided that bringing that up at the moment wasn’t very tactful. Instead she sat quietly and tried not to draw attention to herself.This plan failed almost immediately.

“What do you think of all of this Charlie?” Ellen asked. “You work with the two of them every day.”

“It surprised me,” Charlie hedged carefully, not wanting to say anything that could be used against Cas. “But I trust Cas. If he says that it’s okay, I’m sure it’s fine.”

While this was happening, Cas had managed to walk around the neighborhood and calmed himself slightly. He knew he was only putting off more interrogation, but he needed the peace and quiet for as long as he could reasonably get away with.

It was an odd detail that drew him from his thoughts. The house of Kubrick Russell didn’t have any lights on. Castiel remembered Kubrick vividly from his youth. He had not been a kind man, and often told anyone who disagreed with him that they would burn in hell. His house was covered floor to ceiling in Christian religious symbols and art, and his front yard was set up with the largest nativity scene Castiel had ever witnessed a private citizen owning. Old man Kubrick treated Christmas as seriously as a war widow treated Memorial day.

But the lights were out. Kubrick turned them out every day in December without fail at around five in the evening, but this particular day, he hadn’t. It itched at Castiel’s mind. People didn’t break patterns unless something was wrong, that much he had had ingrained into him in his years as an officer of the law.

Castiel walked up to his neighbor’s home and knocked, hoping for Kubrick to answer and ask whether he was selling something and possibly bring up the fact that Castiel had quit the choir at their church when he was thirteen in favor of not being around Kubrick. But instead there was only silence. There were a million explanations for why that might be. Possibly he was visiting family. Or perhaps he’d fallen asleep and just forgotten to put the lights on. Still something didn’t seem right, so Castiel reached forward and turned the knob, surprised when it wasn’t locked. The door swung open and Castiel had his phone out in seconds to call the station and an ambulance because Kubrick was lying in the middle of the living room in a puddle of his own blood.

**********************

“Novak, can I speak with you a minute?” Chief Mills asked. Cas nodded and left Charlie to her looking over the photos of the crime scene. Then he followed her into her office and waited as she gave him an appraising look.

“Is there something you needed?”

“I’m afraid I can’t have you and Bradbury working this case.”

“What do you mean you can’t have Charlie and me on the case? If you’re worried about personal attachment, I reassure you I felt nothing of the sort.”

Chief Mills rubbed her temples for a moment before meeting Castiel’s eyes.

“There’s no easy way to say this. Robert Singer is our primary suspect at the current time. This presents a conflict of interest for-“

“Excuse me?”

“-you that I don’t feel comfortable-“

“Chief Mills, with all due respect, I’d like to know what exactly makes you think that my father is responsible for murdering Kubrick.”

“The two were feuding.”

“Because Bobby doesn’t put up Christmas decorations and Kubrick tried to fine him for it? That’s hardly motive for murder.”

“The murder weapon was a hammer. One with Robert Singer’s fingerprints on it.”

“Someone could have stolen it,” Castiel insisted. “You don’t have any proof that-“

“And this is why you can’t work this case,” Jody said. “It’s too personal. I suggest you enjoy the rest of your break-“

“With my dad behind bars?” Castiel growled, rising to his feet, hands clutching the Chief’s desk. He leaned forward, keeping his voice low. “How am I supposed to do that?”

Chief Mills set her jaw and held eye contact, neither wanting to be the one who broke. Once Jody realized that Castiel wasn’t going to back down, she raised an eyebrow and decided to remind him that she was the one in charge of him.

“Walk it off, Novak. You have the next few days off, and you are not working this case. That’s final.”

Castiel narrowed his eyes before storming off. A very bad idea had occurred to him, but when he passed through the front of the police station and saw a furious Bobby demanding to speak to his son and telling Officer Benson that if he was going to murder Kubrick, he wouldn’t have used his own god damn hammer, Castiel realized it might be his only option. So he took out his phone and made the dreaded phone call.

*******************

Sam and Eileen had disappeared to the family room to watch a movie while John, Mary, and Dean tried to maintain the friendly atmosphere they’d manage to keep so far. It was almost a relief when his phone started ringing. Dean answered it without checking who it was.

“Yello?”

“No, it’s Castiel.”

“Oh, uh, Cas, hey,” Dean said, immediately walking into another room. “Why are you calling? Just so you know, I didn’t get a gift receipt for the sweater, so you’re stuck with it forever.”

Castiel took a deep breath before he started talking.

“I don’t want you to think this means I believe your psychic mumbo jumbo, but I need help and you seem to be able to solve cases fairly quickly and accurately.”

“Thanks?” Dean said. “Are you trying to hire me?”

“Yes. I’ll compensate you of course.”

“Wait, why don’t you just do this through the police station?”

“Chief Mills has questioned my partiality on the matter.”

“Look, Cassie, you’re going to have to be more specific. What matter?”

“My dad was just arrested for murdering his neighbor. I need you to clear his name.”

Dean hesitated. He didn’t know anything about Cas’ dad. For all he knew, he was a murderer. Still, if Cas really thought he was innocent and was desperate enough to ask Dean for help…

“Okay, sure,” Dean said. “You don’t even need to pay me if you say one thing. Dean Winchester is psychic.”

“Meet me at the police station. I’m not allowed inside.”

Dean laughed after Cas hung up and decided to add up how much all of the tickets Cas had ever given him cost and have that be the bill he sent. It would serve the cop right.

******************

“I still don’t know why we’re doing this,” Sam grumbled. “You know I never get to see Eileen.”

“You could have invited her along,” Dean pointed out.

“What? And give her time to figure out you’re not really psychic? No thanks.”

“You could just tell her. I don’t mind.”

“She’d turn you in. It’s kind of her job to make sure that the CIA doesn’t hire frauds.”

“She wouldn’t turn me in.”

“She might.”

“Fine. I don’t care. We just need to solve this case, and then we can go back home. Sound good to you?”

A knock on the window broke off whatever Sam was going to say. Outside the Impala stood a very stressed looking Castiel Novak, and Dean could see that Jo and Charlie were inside, along with a woman that Dean assumed was Cas’ mom.

“Hey Cassie! Beautiful night huh? Cloudless too, maybe there’ll be a sighting of Santa’s sleigh.”

“My dad’s inside. I’m guessing Alfie is interrogating him. I’d appreciate if you spoke to him and then we can go to the crime scene.”

Sam waited for Dean to be more difficult in response to Novak ordering him around, but Dean hopped out of the car and hit him lightly on the back as though to reassure him. Maybe it was Christmas spirit making Dean kinder than he usual was. Castiel seemed to relax slightly when he saw that Dean was actually planning on helping his father.

Dean marched down to the interrogation room, while Sam decided to settle in with Jo and Charlie and figure out what they knew. Jo raised an eyebrow at him.

“Did Cas call Dean?” she asked, sounding less than thrilled with the idea. “Course he did. Figures. No offense Sam, you two seem nice enough, but wherever you go you seem to stir up more trouble.”

“Fair enough,” Sam said, admitting to himself that they did have a habit of poking at things that would usually have been left alone. “I’m surprised Dean agreed though. He loves Christmas. I’d have thought he would wait until after to start on the case.”

“Yeah, well,” Jo said with a snort. “He’s got plenty of incentive, doesn’t he?”

“What?” Sam asked, giving Jo a glance. Charlie started shaking her head, but she was too late to stop Jo.

“I mean Cas probably won’t fuck him anymore if he lets our dad rot in jail,” Jo said, sounding bitter. Sam started laughing, assuming it was some kind of joke. Then he saw the look in Charlie’s eyes and realized that Jo was being entirely serious.

“Wait, what? When the hell did this happen?”

*********************

“Hey Alfie,” Dean said, strolling into the investigation room. “Jody asked if I could talk to him for a bit. Mind if I take over for a few minutes?”

Alfie smiled and nodded, before leaving the room. Dean looked across at Bobby Singer and tried to figure out if he was the type to murder someone. He looked back at him, eyes surly.

“You going to ask me any questions boy?”

“Cas asked me to help out with your case,” Dean said. “I’m just trying to get a read on you.”

“Oh, are you that psychic kid? Call me crazy, but I don’t believe in psychics.”

“You don’t have to,” Dean pointed out. “Look, I’m just trying to help. Did Mr. Russell have any kind of enemies?”

“It’d be shorter to list the people who didn’t think he was an enemy. But I don’t know anyone who actually wanted to kill him. Plenty threatened, but that don’t mean they were serious.”

“Great, that’s super helpful,” Dean said sarcastically. This case was starting to sound less and less like one that could be resolved quickly.

“Alright princess, sorry I can’t solve everything for you,” Bobby said back, just as sardonic. Dean couldn’t help liking him a little though. His abrasive nature was similar to Cas’ but instead of rubbing him the wrong way it just made Bobby Singer oddly likable.

“Well, enjoy prison until we get a lead on this case,” Dean said, getting up to leave. It was clear that Bobby didn't have anymore information, and Dean was already convinced he hadn’t murdered anybody. Now he just had to figure out why all the evidence was pointing the other way.

“Thanks. I’ll get right on that.”

Dean then left to go join his brother, Jo, and Charlie at the front of the police station. The three of them stopped some kind of angry discussion they were having as soon as Dean walked up.

“Well, I can tell where Novak got his sunny personality from,” Dean joked elbowing Sam in the side. Sam crossed his arms and looked away from Dean. “Okay, what did I do? Why are you pissed at me?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you and Cas were sleeping together?”

Dean’s head went blank for a second. Then he turned to look at Charlie.

“You have a big fucking mouth.”

“Jo’s the one who told him.”

“And I’m guessing you’re the one who told Jo.”

“Not on purpose,” Charlie said, her eyes pleading. “I figured she knew. Cas tells her almost everything.”

“Look, can we not talk about this?” Dean asked, looking around to see if anyone else had been listening. “At least not here? C’mon, we both work here, okay?”

They all walked out of the police station and Dean was surprised when instead of waiting for him Sam walked right up to the Impala and sat in the driver’s seat, pulling out the spare set of keys he’d had made when Dean kept stealing his.

“Sam, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to spend Christmas with Eileen.”

“I thought you said you would solve this case first with me,” Dean said quietly, meeting Sam’s incredulous glare with confusion. “Sam, I don’t get why you’re so mad. You know that I have sex with people sometimes.”

“Yeah, I know because you tell me. Even when I beg you not to, you still tell me. And I don’t know what the fuck is going on between you and Novak, but I chose to come help you solve a case on Christmas, which is the first time I’ve seen Eileen in person in over a month, and you don’t even think it’s worth mentioning that you’re sleeping with a guy you pretend to hate.”

“Wait, are you actually jealous because I’ve told him things I haven’t told you?” Dean asked. “Really Sam? That’s what this is about?”

“You know, Eileen really means something to me, and I haven’t told her you’re not a fucking psychic.”

“I told you you could tell her!”

“Fine. Maybe I will. Considering she’s actually someone I care about and see a future with and not just whoever I can convince to come home with me. Is there actually anyone you wouldn’t sleep with?”

Dean sucked in a breath and resisted the urge he had to hit his little brother for that comment.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I’m going home. You can go too if you want. I’m sure mom and dad would like to see you again before Christmas is over, because from what I heard from Jo this case isn’t getting solved tonight.”

“Sam, I told him I’d help out. Besides, they probably want to go home for Christmas too, and Bobby seemed like a nice guy.”

“Right, what was I thinking?” Sam muttered. “That for the first time in nine years you might actually want to spend time with your family and not make everybody miserable?”

Sam left with that comment hanging in the air behind him. Dean clenched his fists and wished it was cold enough to have snow in Santa Barbara so he could find a good snow bank to sink his hand into.

“Dean?” Castiel asked, when Dean still hadn’t moved. He and Sam had been out of earshot, thankfully, but it was obvious that the two of them had had a fight. Dean decided to focus on one thing at a time. If he let Sam’s words eat away at him, he’d never solve this case and get home in time to figure out what was really making Sam so angry.

“Sam decided to go back to our parents, so I’m going to need a ride to the crime scene,” Dean said, in as nonchalant a manner as he could muster. “I’ll go with Charlie so you assholes don’t all think Cas and I are getting distracted.”

Charlie flushed red at the words and seemed on the verge of some kind of apology, but stopped when she saw Cas grab Jo and his mom, and head back to their car while Charlie made her way to Dean’s.

“I’m sorry,” she said, finally getting the words out when she had sat down. “It wasn’t my business. I shouldn’t have-“

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Dean managed. “I’m guessing you would have kept it to yourself if you hadn’t thought Jo already knew.”

“She just wants what’s best for Cas,” Charlie said, feeling the need to defend her friend. “You know what Meg did to him. She’s scared he’ll have to go through that again. Cas cares a lot, and he’s not exactly the type to have casual sex, you do realize that right? And its especially complicated because its all mixed up in this Azazel business-“

“He told you about that?”

“Yeah.”

“Everything?”

“Yes.”

Dean swiped his fingers through his hair in frustration. Because that most of all he’d never been able to figure out. Cas had seemed so put together even when he was scared he was about to die, but the second Azazel had mentioned handing Dean over to Alistair…

“This isn’t something I wanted to figure out with an audience,” Dean admitted. “I mean, I thought it was just adrenaline the first time, you know? And the power of suggestion, because Azazel sure suggested he thought something was going on between us, but sometimes, I don’t know. It’s like we get each other, you see what I mean?”

“I do, actually,” Charlie said. “I didn’t, but now I do.”

Dean looked away from where he’d been meeting Charlie’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Charlie decided to add one more thought.

“I’d be straightforward, if I were you,” Charlie said. “Cas appreciates that.”

“Not really my style.”

“You’re both so screwed,” Charlie muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

*****************

“Jesus, was this guy chainsaw massacred?” Dean asked, staring at the huge pool of blood that had soaked into the carpet where the body had been.

“Don’t speak so loudly. We broke in here,” Cas hissed. “What if the neighbors hear you?”

“Then Charlie will flash her badge. Try not to be a freak for a second, Novak.”

“Solve the damn case, Dean.”

“I’m trying. I know I make this whole psychic thing look easy, but I do actually have to focus.”

“Go ahead,” Cas said, indicating with his hand that he was waiting. Dean tried to focus, but having Cas impatiently tapping his toe was not helping.

“Could you not stare at me?”

“I’ll look around upstairs, then,” Cas said, clearly frustrated with Dean’s attitude. He disappeared up the stairs. Charlie looked at Dean.

“Smooth.”

“Shut up, Charlie.”

Dean looked through the scene. Judging from the amount of blood on the ground, it had taken a considerable amount of force to kill Kubrick, and the reports had indicated it had been done in one blow. No hesitation, likely planned, considering they’d used Bobby’s hammer. From the way he’d sprawled on the floor, he’d likely been standing up, and the blood splatters on the wall confirmed that for Dean. He remembered the slight lack of mobility he’d noticed when Bobby had been sitting in the cell and smiled because his name was as good as cleared.

“It can’t have been Bobby. This hit would have required a downward swing from holding the hammer of his head. Bobby wouldn’t have been able to do it. He must have joint issues, because he moves his arms stiffly. He wouldn’t have been able to get the angle if Kubrick was standing up, and Kubrick was definitely standing up.”

“Awesome,” Charlie said, impressed at Dean’s deductions. “Any idea who might have wanted to kill him?”

Dean looked around again and noticed something else interesting. There were windows everywhere. He could hardly walk without seeing a glimpse of the neighbors eating Christmas dinner or watching television. This coupled with the a case that looked strangely like it held a pair of binoculars led Dean to his next conclusion. He screwed up his face as though getting a vision and then turned to Charlie.

“It was someone he was trying to blackmail.”

“Charlie, Dean!” Cas yelled. “Get up here.”

Charlie and Dean looked at each other and then sped up the stairs to see Cas looking through a series of photos.

“Looks like Kubrick liked to spy on all of us,” he said, pulling out a picture of him kissing a young dark haired girl that had to have been Meg, mixed in with many other pictures of teens sneaking out of houses and parents smoking in their backyards late at night. “For years.”

“Huh,” Dean said. “Those won’t be the important ones. I got a vision he was blackmailing someone. He’d keep those kinds of photos somewhere safe.”

Cas placed the pictures he’d been looking at back in an envelope and tossed it back on a desk. Dean looked around the room and tried to picture where he would hide something he didn’t want someone to break into his house and find. The floor was carpeted over, and he wouldn’t have easy access, so that was scrapped. He tried several drawers, but none of them were locked. Cas and Charlie watched Dean expectantly as he realized there was a slight inconsistency in the depths of the walls of Kubrick’s book case that held several different versions of what was best described as Jesus memorabilia. Dean removed the figures and grasped around the edges until he found a catch and the wood door swung open, revealing another envelope.

“Jackpot,” Dean said with a smile. He opened the envelope to look through. “Suburban mom weed seller. Probably not a murderer. This kid was putting graffiti on other people’s houses. Yeah, I don’t think he did it.”

Dean kept flipping through before he landed on one that seemed more likely. He took it out and showed it to Charlie and Cas. It was a picture of a prostitute on his knees in front of a man who clearly had a wife, if the floral curtains, king sized bed, and two bed side tables in the image were anything to go by.

“What do you think? Murder material?”

**********************

Sam pulled the Impala into his dad’s house still seething. With a little bit of distance from Dean, he could realize he shouldn’t have said what he did, and recognize that he was just trying to be mean, but he was pissed enough that any kind of guilt he might feel was outweighed by anger.

When he walked back into his dad’s house, he was all set to complain about Dean but he stopped short when he saw Eileen sitting on the couch with his mother, looking worried and unsure. She brightened when she saw him and signed to him: I didn’t know if you’d be coming back before I left.

“Of course I was going to come back before you left,” Sam said. His mom made some excuse to leave the room, likely so she could eavesdrop elsewhere. “Why would you think I wouldn’t?”

Eileen shrugged.

“Trust issues,” she said. Sam could feel the anger dissipating into thin air, though he couldn’t say why exactly. Something about seeing Eileen not being quite as cool and calm as she had appeared all night soothed the raw angry nerves that had been exposed when he’d realized Dean had been keeping things from him.

“I’m terrified this isn’t going to work,” Sam admitted. Eileen nodded to indicate she agreed with the sentiment.

“I’m not a girl to settle down with. Your mother was speaking with me, and she said that was the biggest problem with this job and a family. If you pick one over the other you end up resenting the one you pick. I’m not going to abandon my job, and I don’t want to resent it.”

“We don’t have to talk about that now.”

“We have to consider it. There’s a very real possibility I could die on a mission, Sam, and that you’d never know what happened to me. If you’re not going to be okay with that, it’s best that we go back to being friends before we get too deeply involved.”

“What if I’m already too deeply involved?”

Eileen didn’t have a response to that, just a sad kind of smile that was bittersweet with acceptance of being just as lost as Sam was. Sam leaned forward and she mirrored him. Their first kiss was gentle, and brief, and spoke volumes that neither would be able to communicate any other way.

“So you solved the case early?” Eileen asked when they broke apart, partly to break up the sweet awkwardness after, when they had both started laughing quietly. Sam looked away and shook his head.

“Dean pissed me off.”

“That’s a shame, considering it’s Christmas and all. Then again, I’ve been told that’s what family does. Fight. Mildred and I seem to squabble enough.”

“Did you call her today?”

Eileen smiled in memory.

“Yes. Her grandniece is deaf as well, so we signed for a while. She’s very nice. Usually I spend Christmas with her family.”

“But not this year,” Sam said with a slight smirk. Eileen rolled her eyes.

“No. This year I had other plans.”

Sam sighed and looked toward the door.

“I should probably go talk to him, shouldn’t I?”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

Sam sighed and stared at his lap.

“Him and Novak are a thing, and apparently he didn’t think that was worth mentioning to me,” Sam said. Eileen had leaned forward so she could still read his lips. “It’s just, the last time we all had Christmas together was right before Dean ran away so he could live with mom, and… it just brought back bad memories.”

“He didn’t tell you before he left?” Eileen asked. Sam shrugged.

“He sort of did. Not when he was going to leave, just that he was thinking about it. Then I wake up one day and there’s a note on my pillow that said that Dean was hitchhiking to Illinois. My dad was furious. Kept asking me if I knew anything, but I didn’t, and Dean didn’t even call either of us for a whole month. I didn’t know if something had gone wrong or…”

“Did you tell him that was why you were mad?” Eileen asked. Sam shook his head. “He probably thinks you’re being unreasonable then.”

“I should go,” Sam repeated. But he didn’t stand up. Eileen gave him a strong push toward the door and a steady expression.

“Go. I’ll still be here when you get back. At least until my flight leaves tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll go,” Sam said, still kind of hesitant. He almost made it to the door before he was swung around and Eileen kissed him again, much different than before, a kind of strength behind it now. When she let him go, Sam swayed on his feet for a second, looking dazed.

“Go make up with your brother,” Eileen said. Sam nodded slowly before turning around and getting back in the Impala so he could make it to the crime scene. He grinned stupidly the entire drive there.

****************

“He looks familiar,” Cas said, staring at the photo.

“Well I would hope so, he’s one of your neighbors.”

A loud noise from down stairs had Charlie, Cas and Dean freezing. Without a word to each other, they all found hiding places in the room and held their breath as someone climbed up the stairs.

“Dean?”

Dean got out of his hiding spot when he realized that it was Sam that was there. Charlie and Cas followed suit.

“Were you guys hiding?”

“Thought you might be the police.”

“Oh,” Sam said. He fiddled with his hands, and didn’t look up at Dean. “I’m not mad about Novak. Whatever you guys want to get up to in your free time is your business.”

“Then why did you-“

“Do you remember the last Christmas we spent together?”

“Yeah. It was a fucking nightmare. Mom and dad fought the whole time. The only reason it was worth anything was because you gave me a printout on how to register for a GED after I told you I didn’t want to finish high school.”

Dean had been so relieved when Sam had told him that he didn’t think he was stupid or lazy for not wanting to finish like his dad had said. School just hadn’t interested him anymore, and he didn’t see the point in completing something he wasn’t going to do well.

“You didn't tell me you were going to leave after that.”

“Sam-“

“It’s just I spent two years without seeing you, and we don’t even talk about it anymore.”

“I thought we were okay about that.”

“We are,” Sam reassured him. “I was just sensitive about you keeping stuff from me around Christmas, okay? Especially since this is the first one we’ve had with mom and dad since then. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

Sam paused, waiting for Dean to say something.

“Do you forgive me?”

“Course Sam,” Dean said. Sam hugged Dean and Dean patted him on the back. “Dude quit being such a sap.”

“This is the one chick flick moment a year I’m allowed,” Sam muttered. Dean laughed. “You made that rule. One a year.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.”

“While this is all rather touching, my father is still in jail and I’d prefer to remedy that situation,” Castiel voiced up. Charlie elbowed him in the side and he glared at her in response.

“I didn’t want to miss the broment,” she huffed.

“Did you figure out who did it?” Sam asked. Dean lifted up a picture.

“We’re guessing it’s this guy.”

“Is that Zachary Adler?” Sam asked incredulously. Everybody stared at him. Zachary Adler was one of the candidates for state legislature that year. His platform was built on ‘family values’, and he’d been less than friendly toward towards people that were less than straight, making the picture they had found quite ironic. “Hey, when I was in college, people used to post young photos of him making fun of him. I’m pretty sure that’s-“

“You’re right,” Castiel said suddenly. “He lived here for about a year twenty years ago. I remember because he was the exception that year to the no swearing rule.”

“What?” Charlie asked.

“My dad wasn’t allowed to swear around us except for one topic that he could change periodically. He had to have that one topic stick for at least two weeks. Mom was very strict about it. She said it was an effort to improve his vocabulary. It was abandoned ten years after that when Jo decided that she was old enough to swear and said fuck in every sentence until mom stopped yelling at her about it.”

“Tell your sister I admire her,” Dean said. “Your mom is a little bit scary.”

“Jo would probably take your admiration as an insult.”

*******************

Jody was pretty pissed when she found out that Novak had defied her orders and investigated the case. She was slightly less angry when she found out that they had found out who the murderer was and had determined that Bobby couldn’t be responsible for the attack, because he was physically incapable of having killed the victim in the method that the evidence suggested. It was a little past two a.m. when Bobby was released from custody, though he had already gained several friends and enemies among Castiel’s coworkers. Alfie and Charlie at least he seemed to like, which was fair enough as far as Cas was concerned.

“So did your psychic friend clear my name?” Bobby asked when he got out.

“Dean-“

“I solved the case,” Sam interrupted. “I figured it out. This one is mine and no one can take that away from me.”

“Dean figured out that the physical evidence made it impossible for you to have perpetrated the murder.”

“Thanks then,” Bobby said, looking Dean up and down curiously. “You don’t seem half bad. Try not to break my kid’s heart and I won’t shoot you.”

Bobby left with Jo and Ellen who had come to pick him up shortly after saying that.

“I take it back. Both of your parents are scary.”

“They seem to be under the impression that we’re together,” Castiel sighed.

“Just try not to get me shot, okay Novak? You owe me that much, at least.”

“At least,” Castiel agreed. “Charlie and I are going to go back to my house now. I’m sure you and Sam want to do the same.”

“Yeah. See you Monday then, Cas. Charlie.”

“Merry Christmas,” Charlie called out as she and Cas left.

******************

Dean had expected to fall into bed and sleep until noon when he got home. He was sorely disappointed when he saw both of his parents up and sitting in the living room. Sam fluttered past easily enough but Dean was called back by his mother.

“So what’s this we hear about you and that cop?” she asked. Dean didn’t say anything for a second, causing his mom to continue. “We know that you’re seeing each other. I overheard Sam telling Eileen about it.”

“I’m not dating Castiel Novak.”

“Good. Because frankly if I were you after seeing what he did to that man without even a second of hesitation, I’d worry about what he would do to me.”

“Now Mary, give the kid a break,” John said warily, as if he had already had this argument several times with her. “He obviously did that because he thought Dean was in danger. We were both there. We heard what that yellow eyed bastard was saying.”

“So that makes it alright?”

“It makes it pretty clear how much this Novak character cares about our son.”

“Love doesn’t solve everything John. You’d think you’d have figured that out by now.”

“This kid isn’t me, and Dean isn’t you. You can’t control what decisions he makes. Isn’t that what you’ve been telling me these past few years? That I need to let Dean make his own mistakes?”

“Oh yes, he’s nothing like you. He’s not a cop obsessed with his job, divorced, and emotionally distant.”

“Wait, did you do a background check on Cas?” Dean asked incredulously. His parents ignored him, still bent on fighting with each other, disguising it as talking to him.

“You know what Dean? I wholeheartedly approve. If you care at all, I personally think that Novak is a great guy. You couldn’t do better.”

“Look, both of you shut up,” Dean said loudly, finally managing to get their attention. “What the fuck is it, backwards day?” he wondered out loud at his parents reactions. “Cas and I are complicated alright? We’re not dating, I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing, but until I decide to let either of you know, it’s none of your fucking business. Now I’m going to go to sleep, and I suggest you two do the same. Oh and dad?”

“What?”

“You got me fishing bait and prepaid sessions to go fishing with you. I win the game. Merry fucking Christmas.”

Then Dean stormed up to his childhood bedroom, slammed the door, fell into his bed, and promptly went to sleep.

******************

Cas was up early for Christmas mass. He was the only one in his family that ever went to church, though Bobby and Ellen had always made sure to encourage him to do what he felt was best for him, despite not sharing his beliefs. When he had grown up, Castiel had stopped going to church every weekend, but Christmas was special.

Mass was long, and Castiel struggled to stay awake through it. After it was over, he made his way to the back of the church, where he lit a candle each year for his mother. Something about celebrating her life on this particular day, a day of birth and motherly joy at a son resonated with him, despite the inaccuracy of the date of Christ’s actual birth which had been in the spring.

“I was wondering if an angel would come to visit.”

Castiel straightened and spun around to see Meg behind him, holding a match and lighting a candle of her own. His throat tightened and for a moment he was too moved to speak.

“You still light one for her, too.”

“Of course I do,” Meg said, annoyed at the intimation that she would have stopped participating in the tradition which Cas had confided to her when they were teenagers. She looked him up and down and breathed a sigh. “How’ve you been?”

“Okay.”

“Good. I’ve been okay too,” Meg said, sounding relieved and sad at the same time. “Good to hear that you don’t miss me or anything,” she added sarcastically.

Cas laughed a little at that, quick and over before it really began.

“I should go,” Meg said after a few moments of strained silence between the two of them. “Merry Christmas, Clarence.”

“You too, George.”

After Meg had left, on some strange kind of impulse, Cas took out his phone and typed out a message.

******************

Dean woke up when his phone buzzed. He groaned and debated ignoring it before picking it up and seeing who had messaged him.

Merry Christmas.

The message was from Cas.

Wake me up before noon ever again and I will dismember you, Dean sent back. He waited a few seconds then typed a second message.

Merry Christmas.

Then he crashed back into his bed to go to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Coming Soon...
> 
> The next episode is going to be based off of Lights, Camera... Homicidio, so that means everybody's favorite Supernatural soap opera will be making an appearance. If you don't know what I'm talking about let's just say that getting sick just got sexy.


End file.
